FLEMING ISLAND – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced $800 million in this year’s budget to raise minimum teacher pay and increase veteran teacher salaries On March 21, and he brought that message to Fleming Island Elementary. According to the governor’s office, the $800 million is a $250 million increase over last year’s funding and it brings Florida’s investments in teacher pay to greater than $2 billion since the 2020 Legislative Session. In 2020, the average starting salary for a teacher in Florida was $40,000, which is 26th in the nation, and it jumped to ninth in the country with the new funding. “Over the last three years, we have worked hard to increase teacher pay,” DeSantis said. “We have invested more than $2 billion in teacher pay, and with rising inflation, this could not come at a better time. This will help Florida to recruit and retain great teachers.” DeSantis launched his campaign to raise the starting salary to $47,500 at Middleburg High in 2019. Among those joining the governor at the school were Reps. Sam Garrison and Billy Payne, Sen. Jennifer Bradley, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran, Superintendent David Broskie and Fleming Island principal Jennifer Collins, who was praised by the governor after her school achieved an “A” rating in each of the past nine years.